Thursday, March 31, 2016

In order to stay close to his students, and not be a glacial
model to whom we can admire but not imitate and tell our faults and defects at
tutoring sessions, because we students may think he’s perfect!

And always if
the teacher has already gotten discipline or he teaches senior students, who
know how to behave and are pretty motivated! / Photo from:Improve Staff Wellbeing In Schools www
alwaysflourishing com

Wednesday, March 30, 2016

Why am I so
optimistic you may ask… I see teens for example can be so troublesome and
disruptive, that’s ok, but my optimism has a foundation, on God: ultimately all
what’s good comes from him, and from our effort as well!

I would tell you I have
my reasons to speak that way: there’s a nice number of providential things in
my life and career as a teacher!

Just simply I trust in our common father. This
is also something I’ve learned from some student of mine, among other sources.
/ Photo from: man smile laptop wallpaerscraft com

Tuesday, March 29, 2016

Look, we teachers can
learn even from our students… At least it’s my case.

For example some student
may behave well and stay calm though he’s suffering from a hard and tough family
situation, like when his parents split up, and he keeps working as if nothing
would be happening and while suffering in his inward self; he also keeps
attending classes as the most normal thing in life, although he’s suffering
tough, as I said. / Photo from: edtosavetheworld com

Monday, March 28, 2016

We can catch
ourselves teachers teaching the same as last year… yet it’s something new and
afresh, since we love our students!

What I mean is that we teach English but we
teach with the engine of love!

Otherwise we would repeat the same stuff as past
years and we’d give the way to a boring and ineffective routine and that is it. Do you agree with me? What’s your point of view, people? / Photo from: oecdeducationtoday
blogspot com

Sunday, March 27, 2016

Let our students and children take decisions in their lives, and then let
them carry them out, and fulfill those resolutions. In that way we would get people,
persons who are audacious and brave, because they learn to make themselves in
life!

And thus we will have gotten education proper: we intently put those youngsters
to the test, and that’s the only way to achieve our young people get educated
properly: they’ll become authentic leaders, which is something we now need in
our society, more than ever before perhaps… / Photo from: haylimhering
com

Monday, March 21, 2016

We English
language teachers should not confine our teaching to English, and that’s it! No
way! It’s okay we teach and help learn English, crystal clear, but we as well
should consider our school subject from a more human point of view: we’re
educators, and we’re educating persons, thorough ones.

We teach from a more
ample and wider point of view: we don’t just teach a foreign language but
through it we are helping our dear students become upright people, persons,
adults if you prefer.

We educate through working: we consider our English
language students as persons with a complete and thorough temper and
personality, and biography.

We’re educating the people that will lead our dear
society, and so also other people... And because of that we help them train them
and their skills in the classroom: this one is an image of their future environment
and world.

We are shoulder to shoulder in a nice and exacting class
atmosphere.

We’re preparing the men and women of a near future. With or by
means of a thorough and comprehensible labor. / Photo from: mpasho co ke

Sunday, March 20, 2016

Yet also it was important to pass the exams and
tests... When I taught in Jaén, north of Granada, where I now live, I included
one question of previous past units in those tests, so if the kid passed the
last unit test, he updated his pass level.

This question of the tests was for
example to write a meaningful sentence about their past, so they had to use a
verb in past simple, which was something they should have learned previously. So
it was some remedial work.

I tried the question would be naturalistic and
meaningful and practical for my dear students. The point, however, was to learn
and acquire the language and not something confined to mathematically pass the
grades (or marks). / Photo from: mrsnewswellsfourthgradeclassroom blogspot com

Saturday, March 19, 2016

The classroom and the
school, but mainly the first are the scenario for teachers and students to get
and acquire values and virtues; and also for the rest of the personnel, like
the lady cleaners, let’s not forget them! They’re essential for the school as
well!

Let’s teach our students to take care of the bathroom for instance.

I know
a teacher, and this is pretty practical, that taught a student to properly use the
bathroom, to not drop pieces of paper on the floor, to close the tap or faucet
nice, to open the window to air the place…

All of us have to learn those tiny
though essential things: that place is going to be utilized by other people,
and in that way the students learn how to think of other people! / Photo from: e27
co

Friday, March 18, 2016

We English language teachers should be close to
our students and at their disposal, shouldn’t we? Our students should find and
encounter an accessible person, whom they can ask after the class for example.

The
teacher, any teacher, of any school subject cannot be a glacial person, whom you
may admire but not imitate and accede to.

This doesn’t prevent from the teacher
setting a good example, on the other extreme. And neither does this mean he
shouldn’t try to make up and create a nice but serious atmosphere for working. We
teachers should be human and humane! / Photo from: kindergarden-teacher www
intelliware com

Thursday, March 17, 2016

I said on the
previous post that there should be a nice and quiet working atmosphere in the
classroom, right? A serene one.

Silence by the teacher may make his students behave
themselves and get silent, because at the same time he is staring and gazing at
his students, silently and seriously.

They may get silent and attentive because
silence is serious and imposes a nice behavior. It’s kind of a trick to keep
them focused on some activity from their textbooks or from the teacher, who is
the main activity resource for learning and acquiring English!

On post # 259
you can find a list of more than 100 games and activities. It’s up to you. You can
type that number in the search box. / Photo from: Happy-female-teacher-assisting
www ecdl org

Wednesday, March 16, 2016

Silence keeps a nice atmosphere
of working and thinking in a classroom: it’s essential!

The class-group should
be quiet. Definitely. We teachers should try to get this silence. It’s
indispensable. For working and learning and acquiring English or French or...

Plus
serenity and a peaceful atmosphere as well.

So calm your students down and try
to get that necessary silence, and denounce the disruptive speaker when he
starts to talk to his classmate, or just with a silent and serious glance from
you... Rope them all with an activity, with activities.

Right now I’m telling you a
trick: if you want a quick silent momentum or time, you can implement a
dictation! Or a text being read out by you whilst they’re following you on
their textbooks. / Photo from: baseball www desipio com. this picture is just
an illustration and has its own story. I may tell you about that image someday.

Tuesday, March 15, 2016

I’ve already told
you in this blog: we teachers don’t just teach but we educate as well. Whatever
we do or we don’t educate our students.

And we can only educate our students if
we love them, with love of benevolence. And the other way round: the student
only lets and allows to be educated by whom he knows he loves him.

So we have that the
people who must educate mostly are their parents and families, aren’t they? It’s
evident! We make a subsidiary labor, but the main mission is for parents
definitely.

You want something practical? Well, think of the way you plan next class: it shows whether you really wish your dear students learn and acquire English as a foreign
language, for example. / Photo from:amistadinternacional
com

Monday, March 14, 2016

Close to our students’
families. This would be ideal, teachers! In that way both the parents or the elder
siblings and the teacher can pull the “cart” in the same direction, which is
grand, because we all can insist on the same points, and we all too can be
confident with the kid’s progress, or face up with his problems on the other
hand...

Do we know their parents or families?

We teachers can be insisting on a
given good habit, which is pretty useful for the kid’s progress, for example hard-working,
focusing at classes conducting, honesty, generosity… unless we lean on families
we can be plowing in the desert, we can be alone at the kid’s progress. (Well,
nothing is lost, all educates the kid.)

Otherwise we can help the kid become a
person used to success but also one that can tackle and face up life’s problems!

Sunday, March 13, 2016

We teachers
should learn our dear students have multiple intelligences, and so they learn
visually, in a space-like way, interpersonally, linguistically... Let’s teach
bearing this premise in mind – we may have large classes but it’s helpful we
know our students well!

We have a nice responsibility: we don’t just teach but
as well educate persons. Education in getting good habits (virtues) too.

And
mastering English is something just expected and assumed in us English language
teachers. There’s some idea in Spain novice teachers ought to pass a professional
examination, like the one future doctors take... We teachers should also recycle
our knowledge, methodologies and practice!

In my blog, to the right hand there
are two nice links both to British-Council-BBC and to TeacherLingo, with material
made by real teachers! Are we enamored of our profession?

Saturday, March 12, 2016

Pepe and Marta,
two English language teachers… had and kept their love after some years of
marriage, overtime! They kept their emotion and feeling.

From time to time they
took their children to the grandpas’ and went to some nice place to keep their
mutual love. From one person to the other. Also this love existed when they all were together.

Besides they passed on this love to
their children, which helped them be more emotionally stable when they were
teens, a period that can be tough!, as you know. This has been inspired from Bárbara
Sotomayor and Alberto Masó (2012) El arte
del amor. Cómo
lograr la plenitud afectiva en la pareja. Madrid: Palabra /
Photo from: www youngparents com sg

Friday, March 11, 2016

Yesterday I taught
two private classes to two brothers. One is 10 and the other one 12.

Well, you know, I treated
them as adults, in some way: I listened to them attentively, to the answers to
my questions. I treated them with love of benevolence.

And the thing I think
turned out well, and I noticed they’re maturing and improving at their school
subject of English!

They told me they also would pray for me too, among other
interesting things. Sometimes I paraphrased what they told me. I try to teach
them with affection. Like grown-ups I treated them: they’re young but not
silly.

Even I let the younger brother tell me about a videogame, although
obviously it hadn’t nothing to do with his school – it’s something that
concerns him anyway, it’s something important for him. When I was making up a
sentence to any of them I used realia (some coins to use the verb “add” for
instance) and meaningful sentences, for them to realize English has to do with
their lives... / Photo from: chelseatv sportsblog com.

Thursday, March 10, 2016

The school system shouldn’t be just exacting
getting good grades (or marks in UK). That’s important but more important is
our students should learn from the desire they have to learn new things. This vision
could help us teachers to direct our classes in that way.

Do you know (for
example we can ask) anything about the Roman Empire? You may think of that
topic because you can read about it in their textbooks of English. And then
elicit what they know about that topic, while we can smile in a wicked and
cocky way when asking about it and getting answers...

Thus we’re creating an
atmosphere of excitement! We can show our agreement at their answers and
contributions. And then we can read out the text about the Roman Empire from their textbooks, while they're following us. / Photo from: site psu edu

Wednesday, March 9, 2016

Our dear students have multiple intelligences.
Some are visual, some are mathematic, some are interpersonal, some are
linguistic…

The point is to teach our students from their strong points or
intelligences. For example, instead of asking them all the time, let them ask
you.

Some geniuses and celebrities were bad at their school subjects, like
Einstein, Robert Redford, I think Newton, Steve Jobs, I guess Edison too. The
school for them was a bore!

Until they were offered their element!: something
they liked, just liked! And they got pretty high standards of development!

Think
of the first teacher of yours that you can remember; maybe that teacher got to
give you the approach to knowledge you liked; you then were inside your
element.

One test: tell your students, next class with them, to ask you
questions about their favorite school subjects and why they are their favorite
ones. Just that! You’ll see how different the students are, and you’ll be able
to teach them and address them from different viewpoints. Just try this
although you may have big classes. Also you could try this at individual tutoring sessions.

Tuesday, March 8, 2016

But optimistic when for example there are problems with
some disruptive students, despite our struggle to manage the class? Yes, I said
optimistic and I don’t remove any letter...

Man and woman are always capable of
great things, any of them. Plus our optimism has the foundation in God: if we
strive for Him, our labor will not be sterile and fruitless!

I’ve seen you
struggling to teach English and help your dear students learn and acquire that
language… you’ll see fruits. I’m optimistic. Students have resources for they
are human beings, searching for happiness.

Let’s not reduce and confine our
work to something small! We’ve been called to a beautiful process of educating
people, persons. The one who has never caused any problem at his school-period
let him put his hand up! / Photo from:Trek-Road-Bikes
9dva finomail top.

Monday, March 7, 2016

Do we tell our students what they do right and correct? Let’s
do that instead of scolding them too much. We can tell them what they do right
in a gentle mode: not too much either.

The point is to recognize what they do
good, their effort to improve. After some reading by one of them, or answering to
a drill exercise, or giving a nice contribution… We gain and get more with
positive motivation than when denouncing their wrong moves and wrong answers.

It’s
a way to empathize with them! Let’s reward their effort. It’s also a way for
them to get more sane self-esteem, plus a feedback about their contributions. And
rope one student to do an activity you teacher would do: think of a
high-achiever student, he could for example read a text you’re working out on,
instead of you… / Photo from: pupils www tes com

Sunday, March 6, 2016

Just something
cool. We teachers should be prone to listen, and empathize with our dear
students. Also we should listen to the families, and the colleagues.

Students
like to be listened to by an adult. And they also need to give vents to their
age conflicts, don’t they?

We should listen to them, in groups and
individually. All they say is important to them. If only there were individual
tutoring sessions at schools…!

There are in some schools I have worked for.

Even
we can learn from our students! Better if boys talk with male teachers and
girls with female teachers. We should love our students with love of
benevolence, this is, to wish good and benefits to them.

And bear their
problems and also joys. Listening to somebody is the best way to start to love
him or her. It’s a kind and nice way to love people. Good listeners receive
each word with a sane and mild proud, ponder about that word and learn
something new, even from students!

Saturday, March 5, 2016

I’ve found
something that could be useful for us teachers and educators. Follow me. I
translate from Spanish, from Antonio Vázquez (1991) Educación Familiar y sensatez.

It’s just great, look: [We have to
foster in our students] loyalty, sincerity, loving truth, responsibility, and…
romanticism. People for whom the world gets small for their audacity!
Rebellious people that are eager to change their lives and help others to
change theirs, with a continuous wish to improve as persons day after day. (page
114).

Thus we would get rebellious teens that say No to drugs, that say No to
an impoverished life; so they would become leaders in our dear Western society!
/ Photo from: lindseykelk com

Friday, March 4, 2016

A couple of things
for today. First, and this is something great, is that I attend English classes
as a teacher, but, there’s a but, I also learn from my senior students.

What? Well
from their attitude and perseverance at attending each single class. They’re
pretty motivated, and they take a huge wealth because of their experience of
life.

They don’t learn as kiddies do, but they have learning strategies
youngsters don’t have! Plus I’ve noticed that actually and really they do learn
and even ACQUIRE English.

And you could catch them speaking in English! With errors
and mistakes, okay, but there is real communication amongst us. After their
contributions I correct them a couple of mistakes or errors, for them to grab
grammar and pronunciation, or their classmates do. Oh, I could go on telling you about them, they’re so
great, but I must finish the post. / Photo from: www pfhub com

Thursday, March 3, 2016

I guess the teacher’s
authority isn’t confined to manage the class, no. The teacher should be a moral
authority as well!!

His or her prestige is all a value, plus working well. At these
cases students can notice their teacher’s moral authority and more likely they’ll
tend to respect him.

As far as I know, I could tell you that every single busy teacher
that contributes to TeacherLingo is pretty committed. Carry on that way
fellows! And don’t decline though problems may occur – all of us have; does
anybody of you have no problems of discipline and class management at least
from time to time?

We as teachers should educate our dear students to be capable to face up
with life: within rather few years they will be the leaders of our society…, if
we get to educate them as great people, great persons.

For that we have to
treat them a bit better as they are, or we think they are, otherwise we could
get people with no seriousness and gravity and not eager to build up our dear society!
/ Photo from: goodfriend-teacherjpgedit www lakecentralnews com

Wednesday, March 2, 2016

If you’re a
learner of English for example, and a non-native teacher maybe, like it’s my
case, I’d tell you to plunge into the water.

Make good use of chances to speak
in English! Don’t wait for future occasions, just do it now. You might not have
future chances for learning and acquiring!

Plus learning and acquiring a
language is life-long, at least I can assure you, from my experience, believe
me. I’ve met some high-achievers at learning and acquiring English, and believe
me, they used to take all the chances they had to gain a fluent speaking for
instance. / Photo from: www theatlantic com. the teacher on the picture looks
he has gotten a nice rapport with his class students, right?

Tuesday, March 1, 2016

I liked the
slogan I saw in an English language teacher and teacher trainer’s blog: “When
one teaches, two learn.” And I agree with him – when an enamored teacher
teaches, two people learn.

Enamored of his job, and at disposal to his
students-learners.

When you strive to carry out your job with commitment, the
result is you get enamored of your profession. And you strive when you try to
make art of your teaching – daily commitment does so.

The next class to teach
is like the first one you taught, in some way – because you plan it with your specific
students in mind. I’ve met awesome teachers in these past years – most of the
ones I’ve met... / Photo from: thefriendshipfactory com